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ROME, GA. – On the third day of play from the Rome Tennis Center, NCAA Division III and Junior College representatives were crowned champions in both singles and doubles at the 2022 ITA Cup.
At the Division III level, some of the standout players from last spring continued their dominant play into the fall, while a couple newcomers to the scene showed they would be a forced to be reckoned with this season, elevating their game to a new level at the ITA Cup.
We saw a back-to-back singles champion in the JUCO Men’s Singles Draw as Takeshi Taco reclaimed his spot atop the thrown after an exciting Championship Match today.
Across the remainder of play, Division II and NAIA representatives played Semifinal matchups today with the winners clinching their spot into what should be another exciting day of Championship Matches from Rome.
Play resumes tomorrow from the Rome Tennis Center as Finals play from both the Division II and NAIA levels are set to begin play at 10 am (EST) to conclude play from the 2022 ITA Cup.
Division II
In what was a day of Semifinal play for the Division II Singles and Doubles Main Draw, top-seeded players found great success, advancing to the championship in the men’s and women’s singles draw as well as the women’s doubles draw.
Barry’s Deniz Khazan is back into the women’s singles final after winning the singles draw last season in Rome as well. Khazan is set to take on Kansas transfer and current Washburn standout, Sofia Smagina in tomorrow’s championship match.
Luca Mack, Valdosta State, is into the men’s singles final after dominating in today’s Semifinal match to continue his dominant run as the top-seed in this year’s tournament. Facing Mack in the championship will be Columbus State’s Santiago Perez who picked up his third straight-set victory with his win today.
In doubles, the top-seeded women’s pairing in Fatima Bizhukova and Natalie Espinal, Nova Southeastern, advanced to the championship where they will face the duo of Madison Kane and Eleonora Liga, Azusa Pacific.
Men’s doubles will pair the two-seed, Facundo Bermejo and Tomas Descarrega, West Florida against Edgar Destouet and Tom Niklas Zeuch, UIndy after each won exciting semifinal matches today.
Division III
As one of the two divisions who played championship matches on Saturday, the Division III Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles National Champions were crowned in an exciting day of play from the Rome Tennis Center.
Men’s singles saw Claremont-Mudd-Scripps take home the National Championship, as Advik Mareedu finishes his impressive tournament with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win in the Championship Match. Mareedu finishes with wins over the No. 3 and No. 4 seeded players in the tournament en-route to his singles championship.
Sylwia Mikos of the University of Chicago is the 2022 ITA Cup Women’s Singles Champion. Mikos, who was the top-seed in the tournament, fought back after dropping the first set in the championship match to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 over Sarah Pertsemlidis of MIT.
In doubles Vishwa Aduru and James Hopper, Case Western Reserve, as well as Brooke Despriet and Katherine Petty, Sewanee, were crowned the men’s and women’s champions. Both coming in as seeded teams, both Aduru and Hopper as well as Despriet and Petty will return home with added cargo after handling business throughout the past three days.
NAIA
The Finals are now set at the NAIA level as well, with championship action set to take place tomorrow from the Rome Tennis Center.
Singles play sees Paras Dahiya, Georgia Gwinnett, and Gabriel Ortiz, Tennessee Wesleyan, advance on the men’s side, while the Keiser teammates of Violet Apisah and Yvette Schmucker will battle it out on the women’s side.
Doubles play is an all Georgia Gwinnett battle as two Grizzly teams advance to the Finals in both the men’s and women’s draw.
JUCO
In the other championship matches of the day, Cowley College swept the men’s titles, while Hillsborough and Seward took home titles on the women’s side of play.
Carol Mora Camacho, Seward, is the women’s singles champion, as the second-seeded player dethroned the top-seeded player in the finals today to secure the championship. On the men’s side, Takeshi Taco, Cowley, makes it back-to-back ITA Cup Singles Championships after winning his match by retirement before the start of the third set.
Doubles play saw Cowley win another title as the top-seeded pairing of Boruch Skierkier and
Bruno Nhavene won in straight sets to win the championship. The duo only dropped nine games over four sets in the Semifinals and Finals en-route to the Title.
For the women, the Hillsborough tandem of Esmee Andresen and Arina Gamretkaia won in a third set tiebreaker to take down the top-seeds and take home the Championship.
